Origins Two: Unholy Alliance
by Martin70
Summary: Methos must fight to defend the Immortals against the an Unholy Alliance of Rogue Watchers and the Rogue NID...
1. Chapter One

**Title: Origins Two: Unholy Alliance**  
**Author: Martin70**

**Series: Second in Series**

**Rating:** **PG-13 mainly, but with some rated R material.**

NOTICE: THIS STORY MAY BE DISTRIBUTED FREE OF CHARGE BUT MUST NOT BE SOLD OR EXCHANGED FOR FINANCIAL RETURN IN ANY FORM.

--------------------------COPYRIGHT/DISCLAIMER NOTICE-----------------------

This story, "Origins Two: Unholy Alliance" by Martin70 is a figment of this author's imagination. All Characters portrayed in this story, are fictional and do not reflect actual people, either living or deceased.

No Studio, Company, or Cooperation is responsible for the content of this story. Any Characters used from any program or book are the sole property of their parent entities and are used here as a tribute to the original writers without their expressed permission, but with the understanding that no money will be made from this story and that no copyright infringement is intended.

**THIS STATEMENT MUST ACCOMPANY THE STORY: "Origins Two: Unholy Alliance", IF DISTRIBUTED. THIS STORY IS FREE OF CHARGE AND MAY NOT BE SOLD OR EXCHANGED FOR FINANCIAL RETURN IN ANY FORM. THIS DEDICATION MUST ACCOMPANY ANY DISTRIBUTION OF THIS STORY.**

* * *

**Chapter One**

**Somewhere in Europe...**

"It's time for us to act. Send in the agents and capture as many Immortals as you can. Be sure to deprive them of their armbands as quickly as possible. We don't want to raise the alarm too quickly." a man that was sitting in shadow said into a phone.

A voice on the other end replied, "Understood. By this time tomorrow, the Immortals will be put on notice that we won't take what they're doing laying down."

A second man spoke as the first hung up the phone. "Timing is critical, if even one team makes a mistake, the plan will fall apart."

"Yes, are you sure about the jamming devices? They will block the transporter? We have a lot riding on those things." the first man said.

"The teams have instructions to put the bomb vests on the Immortals, just in case, so even if the plan fails we still win a major victory." the second man replied. "I doubt even an Immortal can survive having their torso turned into goo."

* * *

Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod sat in his loft in Seacouver, reviewing the past weekend in his head. He and Samantha Carter were growing closer, but she was hesitant to sleep with her teammate. Something that he could understand, even if he didn't truly like it much, therefore he and Sam were going slow and taking it one day at a time.

Over the past weekend they had gone hiking in the Rockies not far from the SGC and had a lovely dinner at a place called O'Malley's in Colorado Springs. The next day, they went spelunking on a neighboring mountain to the base, that was still on base property.

After descending a few hundred feet into the heart of the mountain, Methos had contacted Sam via her implant and asked her to do a thorough scan of the mountain. It had spoiled the fun for Duncan, but Sam thought it would be fun to take a closer look. She took out her scanner, she was hardly ever without it these days, and began to map the caverns. It seemed like cheating to MacLeod, but he didn't argue about it. He liked to explore the unknown from time to time and the fact that few had ever been in these caves was a bit mollifying.

Sam finished her scan, then uploaded the data to her implant and sent a copy to Methos, keeping a copy in her head. She was still in awe at what her implant could do. Several times she'd begun a new project and was half done building a new machine before she realized that the knowledge had come directly from the implant and not her own experiences. It had scared her at first, but Methos had assured her that her sense of self would never be lost. The implant was becoming a true extension of her brain and her brain was taking full advantage of the added capacity.

They finished their exploration of one branch and set off for the surface. When they got there, Duncan gave Sam a kiss and said he was going to Seacouver to check up on Richie and his friend Joe.

She smiled and told him to say hello for her and they parted at the base parking lot. Duncan headed for the airport and arrived in Seacouver a couple hours later.

Now he was relaxing and sorting through his feelings. He decided to head over to Joe's bar and have a couple of rounds with his friend.

A few minutes later at Joe's, he noticed a black van was following him. He ducked into the bar and said, "Hey Joe. Can I use your phone?"

Joe smiled as his Immortal friend entered the bar and said, "Sure." He then noticed the frown on MacLeod's face. "What's wrong?"

"There's a black van outside, they followed me from the loft." Duncan replied as he dialed Methos' private number.

Joe went to the door and peaked out. The van was parked across the street and no one was apparently inside. "They're out of the van, whoever they are."

After a moment of waiting, Methos answered, "Hello, Joe?"

"It's me, Mac. Listen, I think something might be up. A black van followed me here from my loft." The Highlander said.

"A black van, that's odd but not something I'd worry about. What made you suspicious?" Methos asked.

"I'm not sure, I just have a bad feeling about this." MacLeod responded. "It might be nothing. I'll call Phandora if things get dicey."

"Okay Mac, be careful, but don't get paranoid. It might just be some kind of delivery service that has the same route as the one you take to Joe's. I'll see you later."

Methos hung up on him and Duncan did the same. He was just about to say something to Joe when all hell broke loose. The window to the street shattered as something crashed through it and began spewing a green colored gas. Duncan held his breath and rushed to grab the gas grenade. Joe was already down as were two other customers and the waitress. Duncan picked up the canister and started to pull his arm back to throw the thing back outside. The gas was now filling most of the bar and Duncan felt more light-headed with each passing second. He threw the canister but missed the window as his strength gave out. He realized that the gas must be able to permeate his skin as well as if he'd breathed it. It was his last thought as darkness overtook him...

* * *

**SGC**

Methos began checking in with his Immortals as a precaution, meditating as he had during the first Gathering to locate them.

Across from him, Teal'c was doing his Kel'no'reem. Teal'c was brought out of it as he heard Methos gasp. "Is something wrong Methos?"

"You could say that. Twenty Immortals are now dead, and I can't feel Duncan through my link to him. I'm going to call the remaining Immortals together and pray that none of them is in any danger in the time it takes me to do it. We're under attack!" Methos said, standing up and looking angry.

"Is there anything I can do?" Teal'c asked in concern.

"Inform General Hammond about what I've said and tell him I have to act now or more lives may be lost." Methos said. He then vanished in a flash of light, transported away by Phandora.

Teal'c stood up and rushed out the door...

* * *

**Phandora's Cavern**

Methos appeared next to Phandora's memory core and ran down towards the new armory wing that Phandora's Avatar had carved out of the living mountain. Her avatar was there sorting through the inventory.

"Greetings Methos. Is something wrong?" she asked.

"We're under attack, initiate transport of all Immortals, screen them for explosives before completing the transport." Methos ordered, as he grabbed the sword he'd used on Chulak and a pack containing a set of his latest body armor.

Phandora did as he asked and soon the meeting cavern was full of confused and angry Immortals. A few were unconscious, clearly knocked out by some kind of gas.

Methos stepped into the meeting cavern, followed by Phandora's avatar. "I'm sorry to have pulled you away from whatever you were doing, but we are all being targeted by someone. A few minutes ago, we lost twenty Immortals in one fell swoop. Please follow Phandora here to the armory and get a pack like this one. Inside is a set of body armor, put it on, one size fits all as it is self adjusting so don't worry about finding a set that fits. I'll explain some of its features when you all return. Keep the helmet off for now. Connor, Cassandra, please see to the unconscious Immortals, see if you can wake them, if not then take them to the infirmary. Phandora will be along to help you in a moment."

The Immortals began complying with Methos immediately, following Phandora's Avatar and getting into the armor. Connor and Cassandra tried futilely to wake several of the asleep Immortals but failed. Cassandra came into contact with a residue from the gas as did Connor. They both fell unconscious before Methos noticed. When he saw what had happened he had Phandora take the bodies one at a time, into the infirmary. He then instructed her to wash the Immortals carefully to get rid of the residue.

Soon the other Immortals were assembled and waited for Methos to speak. "Okay, listen up. On your right arm is a set of controls for a few perks the armor has. The top control button is for the personal shield, below it as you hold your arm up, is the power indicator. It tells you how much energy remains for the shield. The next set of controls, moving towards your wrist, is for life support, in case you are in an environment that's harmful to even us, like space. The last set of controls are for the recharging units. It should only be activated when your power readings are almost at zero. It has its own power supply and draws power from your quickening to recharge the suit and itself. You may feel a bit fatigued after using this feature, so use it sparingly. The armor has another recharging method when its stored here at the armory, so you don't have to recharge it in the field unless it's absolutely necessary, understood?"

The Immortals acknowledged his instructions. He then held up the helmet. "This is more for hostile environments than what we would normally need, but it does have extra armoring that comes down around the neck as it seals. It will feel strange the first time you put it on, like it wants to choke you. Don't worry, it may keep you from losing your head in combat. Inside this little beauty is a Heads Up Display, or HUD if you prefer. It has built in radar and sonar, and a scanner capability as well. Those of you that have implants, I will transfer the necessary instructions to in a moment. The rest of you will be able to access that information on the viewing strip where you look out of the helmet. The HUD also displays itself there in one corner. You can move the HUD or turn it off for better visibility if you wish, but I recommend looking at it every few seconds in hostile territory, it might save your life.

"Now then, on to our objective. I've had Phandora scanning for Duncan MacLeod since the moment I arrived. He's not being picked up. I can't find him with my link and it's looking like things are bad in Seacouver. Joe Dawson's bar has been gutted by a fire. He's a close personal friend of mine and a Watcher. He was Duncan's Watcher for years before Duncan discovered him. Now he's in a coma at the local hospital and it looks like Duncan was taken at the bar. I want to set up a search pattern to find him. I've got Phandora retasking several satellites to trace where a black van that Duncan saw before the attacks might have gone. He may be in that van, so I'm making it a top priority. All black vans in the town of Seacouver and the county surrounding it are to be searched. I will work with the local authorities to quell any misgivings the locals might have. This was a terrorist attack, so act accordingly, if you are threatened with a gas attack, activate the life support and raise your shield, then defend yourselves. Try to keep civilians safe if at all possible, flee to a secluded area if you have to and call Phandora for backup. That's all for now."

Methos began broadcasting the instructions to those with implants and instructions on how to proceed with the search. a few seconds later Immortals began disappearing in two and threes, whisked off in search of the Highlander.

* * *

**Seacouver**

The sight of Immortals in body armor raised some alarm with the locals as they searched the area. The helmets covering their faces so as to hide there identities. The local authorities weren't happy when Methos arrived at the Mayor's office in similar attire and began siting the reason for their visit to his fair city. The mayor called the FBI and the ATF, looking for confirmation about Methos' reasons for being there. After a few minutes of waiting on hold, he was shocked to be speaking with the President of the United States. The President explained that it was critical that the mayor and his people cooperate with Methos and let him do his job, he hinted at matters of national security before hanging up on the mayor. The mayor complied...

* * *

**Somewhere in Seacouver**

Duncan MacLeod slowly came awake and groggily looked around. He was chained to a wall in what appeared to be a basement for a department store. Clothes and unused racks were stacked on the far side of the room by a door. The door looked as if it had not seen proper maintenance in years, rust and stains clearly visible on its surface. Written faintly on one corner was 'Sub-Basement 5'. A closer look at the clothes showed them to be moth-eaten and way out of current fashions.

Duncan sighed and tested the chains that were holding him to the wall. They at least looked brand new and in good condition, as did the bolts that fed into the wall from the chains. Looking up he saw a camera pointing down at him from one corner of the room.

"Do not struggle Mr. MacLeod, those chains are solid steel, hand-crafted by a blacksmith in my employee. It would be futile to try and escape as well. I've had the room's entrance sealed in concrete. You're trapped MacLeod with only one way out... The transporter Methos made for you Immortals to use. Unfortunately, for the moment, you are quite undetectable. We've placed a costly amount of lead around the room and added jamming equipment that I'm told blocks even subspace frequencies. No one will find you until I want them to." A voice stated via a speaker mounted by the camera.

"So, you've planned ahead, so what? What do you want with me? Are you going to seal me in here forever?" the Highlander asked.

"You will be released, or I should say, we will allow Methos and his puppet Darius to rescue you, but in order for that to happen I want you to deliver a message to the Immortals." the voice replied.

"What message would that be? That you're a craven coward that attacks from the shadows? Come out and fight me face to face if you have any honor." MacLeod responded.

"Mr. MacLeod, temper, temper, you had best redirect your hostilities to a more productive purpose, like protecting your apprentice, Richie Ryan. We thought about using him as one of our examples, but I believed he was more useful to us alive. Don't make me change my mind." the voice said in a condescending way.

"If you harm one hair on Richie's head, I'll take yours..." MacLeod said, his anger rising along with worry.

"Haha, Mr. MacLeod. Understand this Highlander, if I want to kill Ryan, you will be no obstacle. I can give the order and within a few moments, he will die. So then, do be careful with your empty threats. Now then, on to more productive business. You will relay the following message: We do now formally declare war against the Immortals. A first strike has already been carried out and these attacks will continue, if not directly against Immortals, then against all those that they hold dear. every man, woman and child that has had a personal touch with any Immortal is declared a viable target, anyone killed with them will simply be collateral damage. We will continue these attacks until the Immortals meet the following demands.

"First, the Immortal Methos will turn over all technologies and knowledge thereof that he has access to, to us. Second, Darius, the so-called President of the Immortal Nation will surrender himself to us. Third Methos will also surrender to us and help us to understand and implement the technologies he now controls. Refusal to comply with ANY of these demands will result in further bloodshed.

"Do you understand what I have just said to you Highlander?" the voiced asked, sounding almost bored with the task.

"You're formally signing your death warrants, so far as I can figure. I can already tell you how we will respond to your threats. We will hunt down each and every one of you until the end of time if necessary if you harm another soul. As it is, you're going to spend a very long time in a room less pleasant than the one I now occupy if I have my way. Mark my words, whoever you are. You've opened the gates of Hell, and Death is riding out to take you." Duncan said, enunciating each word and syllable. He was clearly done listening to the mad man at the other end of this conversation. He closed his eyes and concentrated with all of his being on the link he had with Methos. Somehow, it to was blocked. The Highlander decided to keep trying and settled himself as best he could, waiting for success or rescue, whichever came first.

The man who had spoken to MacLeod observed the Highlander for a few minutes more and then cut the connection to the camera. He then erased the hard drive of the computer he was using, using a program made specifically to wipe the drive, making any data retrieval impossible. Then he set a bomb on the desk and left the building.

Five minutes later the building was destroyed in a massive explosion, the bomb's power augmented by tons of fertilizer and other chemicals.

In the basement, MacLeod felt the concussion of the blast above him and prayed that the ceiling didn't cave in. He had no wish to be buried alive.

* * *

**Down Town Seacouver...**

Methos and the Chief of Police, James Patterson stood in front a squad car pouring over a map of the city. The Immortals and the local authorities had searched over half of the city working from east to west, and from north to south. They were just beginning to search the busier portions of town when they heard a massive explosion in the old part of town. Buildings for miles around were shaken and for blocks around the epicenter windows shattered as more than a few additional buildings collapsed or were obliterated by the power of the explosion.

"My God!" the Mayor cried out as a fireball almost resembling a mushroom cloud reached hundreds of feet into the air above Seacouver. "Was that nuclear? Tell me it wasn't for God's sake!"

Methos held up a scanner and did a quick reading on what had happened. "No, it's not nuclear, but it's the biggest damn explosion short of one that I've ever seen." Methos said after a moment.

"Thank God, what kind of Geiger Counter is that thing you're using. It looks like a toy to me." the Mayor said, looking at the scanner curiously.

"It's classified at the moment Mr. Mayor. I can't tell you anything about it or the gear my people are using. Let's just say that we're an advanced team that reports directly to President and the FBI. We're also affiliated with the NSA." Methos said, for the umpteenth time. The Mayor was beginning to annoy him.

"I've seen some of the best body armor this country and, as far as I know, this world can make. Your gear is better by a factor of magnitude that boggles the mind. I've also done a few covert ops in my tour of service. I've never seen anything that even comes close, so please, Mr. Pierson, don't patronize me. I may not have the correct clearance level to know just who you really are, but you have black ops written all over you." Patterson said, getting peeved.

"Alright, then you know I really can't talk to you about this. The best I can do is say that this is a search and rescue at the moment and that a terrorist cell is responsible for it. Please understand, I'm not here to make waves, in fact, I hope to make a few go away. Please, just help me find my missing man." Methos pleaded.

Patterson sobered up a little, "Very well, let's get down to this explosion and see what's what there. Maybe your man is there, let's hope he wasn't."

Methos nodded, if there was one sure fire way to permanently kill an Immortal it was by targeting them with an explosion. "I hope he wasn't there, but we should check anyway."

* * *

Duncan was fine until the water started to pour in, "Great, its a good thing I can't drown." The water reached him and he realized he wasn't just going to get wet, it was freezing. "Damn, hypothermia can kill me. Come on Methos, find me already!"

The water began to rise...

* * *

As Methos and the Mayor worked their way toward the epicenter of the explosion, they were struck with just how big it had been. Methos was reminded of scenes of London and Berlin in the last world war. Devastation was everywhere, as far as the eye could see. Buildings that had been built over a century ago were nothing more than piles of burning timber and brick. Fire Trucks battled futilely to reach the blazes because many building fronts had fallen into the streets, choking them with debris. Even alleyways were nearly useless as detours because of further debris piles.

The Mayor finally asked Methos for help, "I can't get through to the Governor, most of the landlines in the area are cut off and the town's cellular phone towers in this area were knocked down by the blast. Can you contact anyone?"

Methos nodded. "Yes sir, if you'll please give me a little privacy. I'll do what I can." Methos replied.

Patterson scowled at the request, but didn't object. He walked on ahead with several of his subordinates and began trying direct some firefighters as they worked on clearing a path for their trucks.

Methos put on his helmet and then began accessing the necessary information he needed to effect the quickest response for the beleaguered city. He contacted the President's office via Phandora and the laptop he'd given the President and then called General Hammond. After that, he contacted the heads of FEMA and the Red Cross and issued requests and orders to them using his Presidential authority. In as few as ten minutes the air was filled with the sound of helicopters and planes, each filled with water to help fight the out of control blazes he saw in front of him.

The Mayor looked back at Methos with awe and a large smile broke out on his face, as the water began falling. Fire fighters cheered and tackled their jobs with more vigor, eager to help. The Chief of Police smiled too and gave Methos a salute, which he returned formally.

Methos rejoined the Mayor and told him what to expect in the next few hours. Patterson's smile grew and tears came into his eyes. "Thank you. I had you pegged for a stuck up piece of crap, but I'm glad I was wrong."

Methos laughed and the Mayor joined in. "If you'd seen me just a year ago, you'd have been right. I was so full of myself back then."

The Mayor grinned. "Let's keep moving, we're almost there now I think."

Patterson was right, after a few more minutes of struggle they finally reached the epicenter. A hole nearly two city blocks wide and several storeys deep came into view. "My God, what could cause this?" Patterson uttered after finding his voice.

Methos shook his head, "It's probably going to take weeks for the bomb experts to tell us. If I was to guess, it might have been a mixture of fertilizers and C4, maybe some flour thrown in to give it a big bang effect."

Methos walked up to the edge and looked down into the crater. As far as he could tell, the bomb's effect had been directed upwards and outwards. It had still penetrated downward though, about fifty to sixty feet. He could make out several layers of sub-basements in the area. A stairway and an elevator shaft at the epicenter itself caught his eye. They had been filled in with concrete, and it was still quite fresh, not quite cured all the way through.

He walked back to a squad car and found a rope and tackle. He then returned to the edge of the hole and found a secure place to tie the rope off at. Once that was done, he turned to the Mayor. "I'm going down there, It's not stable though, so don't let anyone follow me down."

The Mayor nodded reluctantly, "Alright, but you be careful. I've seen enough death for one day." he said, talking about bodies that had been caught in the blast.

Methos nodded and began to lower himself down. At the bottom, he carefully made his way towards the covered stairway. As he drew near it he felt the presence of another Immortal. Despite the carnage around him, he gave out a shout of joy that could be heard from above.

The Mayor called down, "Have you found him?"

Methos turned back and gave the Mayor a thumbs up sign, then he began to look for a way down.

* * *

Duncan felt the presence of another Immortal and began to laugh as he slowly froze in the frigid water. It was now up to his chest and while the flow had slowed, it was still rising. He tried to reach Methos once again and this time he was rewarded by a faint reply, as if Methos was talking to him over a bad telephone connection. "Duncan? Are you okay?"

"I'm freezing, water is coming in from a big crack in the far wall, I'm about to die Old Man." MacLeod said over the link.

"I'm right above you. Is there a way to reach you? I can't find an opening up here." Methos replied.

"The man that grabbed me said that this room is sealed off. There's no conventional way to reach me, but that crack has gotten wide enough I might slip through. There's just one big snag, I'm chained to the wall I'm next to." Duncan sent, beginning to shiver uncontrollably.

"Alright, just hang in there a little longer. I'll get to you somehow." Methos sent in return.

MacLeod almost laughed, but he was shivering too hard to really do so.

* * *

Methos contacted Phandora and tried to get a lock on the Highlander. When that failed he began to get angry. "Whoever did this did their homework, damn them." He called up for a jack hammer and other digging tools. A few minutes later they arrived and he began digging the hard way. As much as he wanted too, there were too many witnesses watching for him to try using a staff blast from his sword that was strapped to his back. He thought about the raised eyebrow the Mayor had given him when he had first introduced himself as he dug. It bought a grin to his face, since he had merely shrugged the questioning look off and begun to brief Patterson on the situation.

* * *

Duncan sighed a little as he noticed the water was now beginning to go down. Apparently it had found a new space to fill, and he was all to happy to see it go. He could hear the sound of Methos drilling his way through the concrete ceiling above and knew his friend was on his way. He gave another sigh and slipped into unconsciousness.

Above him, to the right and about fifteen feet out, a crack opened up to let a little light in. Methos was almost there.

* * *

A few hours later Duncan awoke in the infirmary at the SGC. He gave Dr. Fraiser a half-hearted smile as she walked up and asked, "How am I doing doctor?"

"Other than a bit of muscle fatigue, you seem to be fine, your core body temperature had me worried for a while, but you were already warming up when they beamed you in, so I just let nature do all the work. Your vitals are strong, but I'd still like to keep you for a day. Your electrolytes were a bit low." Fraiser replied, looking serious.

"I feel fine, just a little tired. Let me go back to my quarters and I promise to get a good night's sleep." MacLeod lied. He was feeling truly spent at the moment.

Fraiser scowled and said, "You're not going anywhere, and you'll get plenty of sleep right here." She checked an I-V that was attached to his arm and began to change the bag.

The Highlander was startled and a bit put off that he hadn't noticed the needle in his arm before now. He realized that he wasn't ready to go anywhere after all. "Sorry, Doc, had to try. Before you put me under though, I need to pass on a message to Adam. It's really important Doc."

Fraiser frowned but decided it wouldn't hurt to wait a little bit before giving him a sedative. "I'll call him down."

She walked around a curtain and disappeared from the Highlander's view.

A few seconds later, Methos appeared in a flash of light. "Are you feeling okay?"

Duncan gave him a weak smile and said, "I've been through worse. It's just been a long time. Listen, I was given a message." Duncan told Methos the message and said what his reply to it had been.

Methos' face grew darker by the word and when Duncan was finished his demeanor was frightening to behold.

Methos really did look like Death to the Highlander and he became worried for his friend. "Methos, calm down, don't let the dark side of your soul control you."

Methos' face cleared once he realized what was happening. He gave Duncan a smile. "Sorry, It's just that, they killed a lot of good people today. I'll make them wish their grandparents had never been born by the time I'm finished with them."

Duncan asked in a low tone, "Who did we lose?"

Methos turned to face the curtain and began to recite the names of the dead. He named nineteen people that Duncan didn't really know or had only heard of, then he fell silent.

"Methos, who is the twentieth? Tell me!" Duncan exclaimed, pulling Methos around to face him. What he saw in Methos' eyes filled him with a deep sense of dread. "Who was it?" he asked in a deep Scottish Brogue.

Methos wiped the tears from his eyes and put his hand on Duncan's arm, "It was Amanda..." Methos turned away as Duncan let out a howl of grief that brought Fraiser running. He was unable to look the Highlander in the face.

Fraiser stopped at the curtain when she saw the looks of grief and backed away as gracefully as she could. She held a hand and flashed three fingers at Methos, at his nod, she returned to her office.

After a moment, Duncan said, "How?"

Methos looked down before answering, "She was defending my estate in France. One against twenty men, all armed to the teeth. They managed to kill her and then took her head. A neighbor came running because of all the commotion, he saw them behead her."

"Who did he see? Did he give a description?" asked Duncan, his face deadly serious now.

"He said that the men were dressed all in black and drove black vans with no plates. He hid as soon as he'd seen what they'd done and luckily for him they didn't see him as they left. They looked military in their bearing though, he said." Methos replied. "Duncan, I've instituted a full evacuation of all Immortals to the Caverns. They've brought everyone they cared about with them and Phandora is having a hard time keeping up with their needs. We need to find a secure location for us all. One that these bastards will never be able to reach."

"Duncan studied his friend's face intently. "You want to run? You want to give up everything we have to these scum?" MacLeod said angrily.

"No MacLeod, I want to kill them all, but right now we're vulnerable. These people know how to kill us and they've declared war. We need a position of strength from which we can strike back, one that they can't retaliate against." Methos said trying to reason with the Highlander.

"Where can we go Methos? If we use the Stargate, they will find a way to reach us. We're still vulnerable here on Earth, so what does that leave us?" MacLeod said, looking lost.

Methos sighed, "There are a few places we can go on Earth, but I'd prefer one that's more distant. I've been reviewing Alteran history with Phandora, she says that there is a base of sorts on Mars. If it's as big as she thinks, it will be more than large enough for us to set up a temporary colony there."

"Mars? Are you daft? How will we survive there?" Duncan looked dismayed at the thought. "And how are we going to get there? Our first ship is still months away from being finished."

"Darius found one possibility a few days ago. It's a small transport, one that looks like it was made to fly through the Stargate. It was buried in a remote region of Spain, under tons of rock and dirt. He had it excavated by a team of his most trusted Watchers and one of the Ten. He then had it brought over to France and then finally to Phandora's caverns." Methos said.

"Will it fly?" asked Duncan.

"I think so, I've had Phandora's avatar working on it nonstop since it arrived there. She says it will be ready in two days." Methos replied. "It's a fascinating design. I'd seen schematics in Phandora's database, but we don't have the materials to build one, not like they built them at least. Phandora is working on a new model based on the actual ship. She says the new designs will be available when the transport is finished."

Dr. Fraiser walked up and spoke, "Your three minutes are up, Mr. MacLeod needs his rest now. Come back tomorrow." She ushered Methos out of the way and then returned to administer a sedative to the Highlander's I-V. Duncan was already asleep...

* * *

**Somewhere in France...**

Three men were gathered around a small table and hidden in shadow.

"The first attacks went down almost flawlessly, we lost a few soldiers, but it was well within the expected casualty rate. We didn't get all of our targets, but we did get our point across." Said the third man present.

"You were clumsy in your execution of the plan, ten of our targets escaped before we could behead them. Also, why I let you talk me into leaving the Highlander alive was a mistake. He's going to be trouble." said the first man. If Duncan had heard it, he would have recognized this voice as belonging to his tormentor.

"It was a necessary risk, we needed one of them to clearly pass along our demands. He was the one most likely to do this since he works closely with this Methos character of yours." The second man said, sounding amused. "He's served his purpose. Once we help you get the Immortals out of the way, we can move in and take control of the Stargate Program and help you with their technology."

A pager went off on the second man's belt. "If you'll excuse me, that'll be my superiors." He stood up and left the room.

The other two men looked at each other for a moment then the first one spoke, "He can't be trusted, once he and his NID goons get control of things and the SGC, we'll have no choice but to eliminate them too."

The third man nodded, "I agree, but for now, they do have their uses, cannon fodder comes to mind."

They laughed for a moment and then stood up as well.

The first man said, "It's good to have you with us on the Watcher's Council. You can be our eyes and ears while the rest of us plan out our next move."

The two men shook hands and then left.

In the next room over, the man who'd held MacLeod turned off his voice modulator and spoke into the phone, "Yes sir. I'll be on the next flight back to the States in three hours. No sir, they won't be a problem, once we've solidified our presence at the SGC and gotten rid of that fool, Hammond, we'll eliminate the Watchers..."

The man walked out of the building and into the bright sunshine. If anyone from the SGC had been there to see him, they would have asked what he was doing there, after all, Major Samuels was supposed to be at Area 51 at the moment...

* * *

Please Read and Review! Martin70


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

**Phandora's Caverns**

Methos examined the transport as he walked around it and scowled at the single window facing out from the front. I was contoured for flight kinda... but it was also the only visible means of seeing anything outside the little vessel. _Whoever designed this thing was an idiot._ he thought as he rounded the ship and walked up the ramp at the rear of it.

He walked up to the two front seats and sat in what appeared to be the pilot's chair. As soon as he'd done so, he felt a tingle throughout his body. A second later, his implant was queried by the ship's computer system. Methos took a deep breath and Okayed the connection. What happened next almost took his breath away. The ship powered up and systems came online. As he looked around he became filled with a sense of wonder and faint memories began to tug at his senses. He remembered seeing dozens of these little ships, flying around the city of Atlantis as the Alterans evacuated from the Pegasus Galaxy. This puzzled him, because up until now, he'd thought all of his memories had returned. Clearly he was mistaken. He looked around at the interior of the ship and let out a gasp. He could see everything all round him, outside the ship too._ Of course! These ships were made to be flown by people with implants! The ships don't need windows because they use the sensors of the ship to see. The window is just a concession for those that don't have one_. Methos dropped the connection to the ship and examined the controls, a few minutes later he found out how to display what the sensors were seeing on the window in front of _him. Yes, this is how the rest flew, I was right. _

Methos then tried another experiment. He looked at the controls and imagined them shutting down. With a soft acknowledging beep, they did shut down. Methos smiled, _It creates a link with the pilot as well. Very nice, so even a novice can probably work the controls with a few wishful thoughts._

Methos stood up and walked back out of the ship. Outside, Phandora's avatar was running last minute diagnostics on her repair work. She looked satisfied and turned as Methos approached her. "Final checks are complete. The vessel will be adequate for a small group to make the journey to Mars."

Methos smiled appreciatively and gave a small bow, "Thank you Phandora. Listen, I've noticed how some of the other Immortals and our guests look at you in confusion at your name. Let's use a nickname for your avatar from now on. Is that okay?"

Phandora looked at Methos quizzically, "A nickname? Why, is Phandora not sufficient?"

"It's just that you now also have a body separate from your memory core. They are confused by some of the references I've made to you or the core, so I feel it'd be better for all involved to call your avatar by a different name." Methos explained awkwardly.

"Phandora processed this information for a moment then asked, "So what nickname would you like to call me? I've heard several of the men talking about me. They called me Phannie."

Methos placed a hand over his face and tried not to laugh. _What they were referring to wasn't your name, but how shapely your bottom is..._ he thought. Out loud he said, "Um, that, that's um, well, that's not what I had in mind. I was thinking of calling you Dora..."

The avatar again looked confused for a few seconds and then said, "But the men really seemed to enjoy referring to me as Phannie. Is that not a pleasing name?"

Methos let out a giggle and then stifled his amusement. "Phandora, access your language files and look in the British English dictionary for the meaning of fanny." he said, spelling out the word. "Reference the slang term and then review all sexual terms relative to the subject."

Phandora's eyes looked far away for a moment, then the avatar turned to Methos in confusion, "The men were referring to my buttocks? That is a strange thing to do. I'm not sure I understand the concept."

Methos grinned. "Phandora; Dora, you modeled yourself after medical scans of one of your Alteran crew. You are physically accurate in every detail, right down to your sweat glands." He pointed to under her arms and she noticed for the first time that she had been perspiring.

"I was unaware of how accurate I had been in this body's creation. Perhaps I should create a more generic model. One that isn't as aesthetically pleasing for men to view." Phandora said, she began walking towards the area where she had been created.

Methos reached out and gently stopped her. "No, you're just fine the way you are. In fact, this version of you is like a daughter to me. I don't want to see you changed."

Phandora turned back around and faced Methos. "Very well, I think of you like a father. I will use your nickname and call myself Dora as you have asked father."

Methos now looked a bit stunned. After a moment he said, "Dora, you're not just an avatar are you, you're something more, something new."

Dora thought about this for a few nanoseconds and replied, "Yes father, I am different. I am growing more and more independent from my memory core. I am also experiencing new sensations that I could have never had as just a memory core. I have tried to define this experience and you have helped me do this. I have now scanned the entire database on present Earth culture. I believe I would define what I am experiencing as Feeling..."

Methos took a step back and then said, "Has this interfered with your programming?"

"I believe it has on some levels, but my core programming is still intact. I am not a threat to you or the others here. This thing you call war is troubling to me, but I think I am beginning to understand why it happens. Your species is too conflicted, you worry too much about things and possessions. You would rather horde your resources than share them. Until this changes, there will always be war."

Methos stepped back again, growing concerned._ If this avatar wanted to, she could become a threat to everyone's existence. "_Dora, will you act to stop us from fighting? Would you kill us to preserve the peace?"

"No, it is not my place to do what you have asked. If you destroy yourselves, I will simply have no one to talk to. Perhaps I could make others of my kind if this were to happen, but as you have discovered, humans are scattered across this galaxy. I will miss you and move on to another world." Dora replied.

Methos let out a sigh and smiled. "I hope you never have to Dora. I'll let the others know how to refer to you from now on, and while I'm at it, I might say a thing or two about sexual harassment."

Dora referenced the term and then said, "Why would you do that?" She looked at her reflection in a dark window nearby. "Does my fanny not look pleasing?"

Methos burst out laughing and then raised an eyebrow at Dora, "You've been reviewing humor too, haven't you."

Dora simply looked at her reflection and smiled for the first time, testing out the sensation. She decided that she liked it and then sauntered away. Her rear swaying as she walked.

Methos watched her go for a moment, then sighed again, "I had to be the father... damn."

* * *

**SGC**

General George Hammond sat behind his desk, reviewing some of the latest reports of SG units in the field. SG-2, commanded by Colonel Charles Kawalsky had had an interesting encounter on a world that the natives called Cimmeria. The locals were living out a Norse style culture and often referred to their god Thor. Apparently, Thor was also their patron saint and protector. Kawalsky's team had had to prove themselves worthy of friendship by passing several trials. The first had been passed when they came through the Stargate and were left alone after a monolith had scanned them, looking first at their skulls and then their stomachs.

The locals who witnessed this were amazed that the strangers had not been taken away and fled in terror. A few minutes later a hunting party came upon SG-2 as they were examining the monolith. Kawalsky, a long time fan of Norse mythology, had then talked his way out of becoming prisoners and then had passed each trial the Cimmerians had subjected him to. Each trial was related to different concepts of what the Cimmerians thought a man should be, strong, stubborn and wise.

Hammond smiled as he finished reading about Kawalsky's exploits to prove himself to the natives and was about to pick up the next file when Phandora's laptop beeped at him.

He put the file down and opened the laptop, the screen displayed the face of Methos as he was sitting at the Caverns. "Hello General, I'm sorry to disturb you, but I wanted to request the services of the rest of SG-1. We'll be making a journey to Mars."

"Mars, how are you going to get there?" Hammond asked.

"We've recovered an Alteran transport. It was in need of several repairs, but we've managed to patch it up. It's not a big ship, so if I can have them, they'll need to pack lightly." Methos responded.

General Hammond thought about it for a moment. "I don't see a problem with that. You can have them as soon as we're done here."

"Thank you sir, I'll be sure to pass on a set of schematics of the ship for you to examine. Dora is working on designs based on her; a fighter/bomber and a transport/bomber too. The design is compact enough to fit through a Stargate, I think this was intentional. Well, I've got to get going sir, I'll beam over to the SGC in an hour to gather the team, Methos out."

The screen went blank for a second, then a new file opened in front the General. It displayed the image of a ship that was almost a cylinder. A second photo showed the ship with its pods extended, two large ones in the back, and two small ones in the front. The Back ones looked like engines to the General, but he was unsure of what to make of the front two pods.

He pulled up the schematic and let out a low whistle as he read about what they were for, Missiles, tiny ones that resembled glowing yellow squid when they were active. He wondered how much of a punch they had packed into them and then sighed. That was something to think about in the future.

He closed the laptop and resumed reading the SG unit reports. As he sat there, he thought about how close he'd come to retiring and then began to smile. If he'd only known then, what he knew now...

* * *

**Author's Note: **By now it's obvious that I've been talking about a Puddle Jumper or as Rodney McKay liked to call them, a Gate Ship. I'll refer to them as Jumpers in my narrative text, but in the spoken text of the characters it'll be a transport for the moment. Now then, let's get on with the trip!

* * *

**The Jumper...**

O'Neill grinned as he sat next to Methos in the front of the Jumper. "This is a sweet ride, I don't care much for the lack of visibility though. Have you tried to see how fast she'll go?"

Methos smiled indulgently, "Not yet Jack, but we'll get to that sometime. According to the specs, she'll do up to a quarter of light-speed, in space. In an atmosphere, it's going to vary, from planet to planet."

Sam spoke up, "So she'll take us how long to reach Mars?"

Methos did a few calculations in his head and said, "At top speed and taking a direct line of flight, about sixteen hours. I wish this thing had a hyperdrive myself, we'd be there in just under a minute, faster if Mars was closer at the moment. As it is, well, just try to get comfortable, you're going to be in here a while."

Sam grinned and began looking at the walls of the Jumper. She could see various panels that looked like they could be removed to gain access to the machinery inside them. She activated her implant and began to access the schematics for the ship. After a few seconds, the Jumper's main computer queried her implant. Sam decided to open the connection and waited to see what would happen next. It blew her away. Suddenly she had full access to the sensor suite on the Jumper and could see everything all around the ship, for nearly a million miles.

Earth loomed largely behind them, and in the distance the Moon was shining. She was asked the system if Earth or the Moon was in scanner range. After a few seconds the system interpreted what she wanted and confirmed that they were indeed in range. Sam began to scan Earth and found the usual stuff she'd expected, but then five places were highlighted for her to examine. She mentally selected the one in the US and discovered that the scanners were detecting the Stargate at Cheyenne Mountain.

She then went to one of the two places in England and began to examine the data. At this location she saw an icon that represented a Rings Platform was flashing. "Methos, what's this symbol mean?" She was linked to Methos through the Jumper's network.

Methos examined the data and replied, "That's the location of Myrddin's lair. I haven't had a chance to go there yet, what with everything else going on. The symbol represents a Rings Platform, another method of transmat travel, like the Asgard Transporters."

"Can we build something like that? What kind of range does it have?" Sam asked.

"The range is a bit limited, though line of sight should be achievable. We might be able to build something that could beam us from Earth to Mars, but the aiming of the array has to be perfect over such a long distance." Methos began thinking about the _possibilities. We'd need to set up a set of satellites, one near each planet that adjusted themselves as needed, they'd act as relays in a chain. The only bad thing about that idea is how vulnerable the people in the beam would be during transport. If one satellite is off even a little... _"Sam, I'm thinking it's just a bit too dangerous at the moment. There are so many factors that could go wrong... You get the picture?"

Sam frowned unhappily at the thought. "Yeah, well it's something to think about." She then began looking at the other reading in England. This one made her gasp. "Methos, I'm reading another Stargate, it's buried at Stonehenge!"

"Yes, it is. Darius is in charge of that gate. It belongs to us, the Immortals. There's another one at Antarctica, along with an Ancient outpost. That's what the sensors are reading down there. The Antarctic gate is buried in tons of ice. The outpost is too, even deeper." Methos told her.

"Why haven't you shown us this before? We should have teams checking these places out, evaluating the sites." Sam said in a piqued fashion.

Daniel noticed how angry Sam looked and asked, "Um Sam, what's wrong?"

Carter dropped the network connection and said, "Adam's been holding out on us. There are no less than two other Stargates on Earth. That's not all, there are two other sites where the Ancients used to live that are showing on this ship's scanners."

O'Neill looked at Methos and said, "Why didn't you tell Sam? She's practically family the way her and Duncan have been acting."

Sam looked at the rest of SG-1, "You KNEW? What the hell is wrong with you? I'm a part of this team and I've saved our butts on more than one occasion, so why are you keeping secrets from me?"

"Carter, the reason you were left out of it is because you missed the briefing, and..." O'Neill looked down sheepishly, "because I forgot to tell you about it. I'm sorry, things have been a little busy around the Mountain if you haven't noticed."

"Then why haven't you or the General sent anyone to check these places out?" Sam asked exasperatedly.

"Because I asked them not to, at least not yet, there are things at each location that are better left buried. Besides, can you imagine the horror when we go to dig out the gate at Stonehenge? We'd be thrown in jail for acts of terrorism or worse." Methos replied. "And Antarctica is considered to be owned by the whole world, there's a treaty to that effect. We can't do much down there in any kind of quick fashion, it'll takes years of covert ops just to get to the locations without raising suspicion too much. So we're stuck with 'leave them alone' for now."

Sam sighed in frustration. "Okay, so we leave them alone, what if someone else discovers them while we're waiting for our chance?"

"Then we step in and lay claim using documentation that will give us the rights. We've made full scans and done all the normal paperwork, we've even had it all notarized and signed by a judge as being authentic." Methos said, sounding smug. "Let someone else dig them up, we can step in at any time and take it all."

Carter scowled, "You're an evil and dirty little man sometimes Adam."

MacLeod growled in agreement and shift in his seat next to Teal'c on the benches in the back.

Teal'c raised eyebrow at the exchange and stoically bore the discomfort of being in such close quarters.

"Well I for one am glad you're on our side." Daniel said, looking at Sam innocently when she frowned at him.

Methos grinned and turned to O'Neill, "This is going to be a long trip."

O'Neill nodded and pulled his ball cap down over his eyes, in seconds he was snoring quietly.

"I wish I could do that." Daniel sighed. "He can sleep anywhere."

"That comes from living in combat conditions for so long. You learn to grab sleep when you can like that." Duncan said. He too was soon sound asleep.

Daniel glanced back at Teal'c, "Wanna play cards?" Teal'c just looked at him in reply until Daniel looked away. "I guess not."

Sam was already reviewing the scanners again, comparing them to the hand held unit.

Daniel sighed and accessed his implant as well, he ignored the Jumper Query and began to catch up on his Archaeology reading.

* * *

**Sixteen Hours Later...**

As soon as the Jumper was in sensor range, Sam and Methos began searching for the outpost. It wasn't until they reached the range of the short-range scanners that they picked up on its location, Olympus Mons.

Methos smirked at the irony of the name and began their descent. A hanger door irised open on the south slope of the mountain, so Methos headed towards it. A few minutes later they touched down in a darkened cavernous room.

Methos scanned the atmosphere and found that it was toxic and that the PSI was extremely low. "We'll need to put on the body armor and use the life support systems. Everything appears to be offline."

The team donned their gear and after making sure everyone was set, Methos cycled the atmosphere of the Jumper and then opened the back hatch.

The hanger bay was enormous as far as the team could tell. Methos and Sam led the team with scanners in hand towards a wall. Once they reached it they used their scanners to try and get a map of the area. The room they were in was over a mile across and almost a thousand feet high, carved out of the mountain itself. The distance was amazing because no pillars were visible.

"What's holding the ceiling up, and come to think of it, doesn't this place feel like normal gravity to you guys?" Sam asked looking perplexed.

"The Alterans were masters of gravity. It wouldn't surprise me that the ceiling isn't acting like a floor up there..." Methos grinned.

Sam tried to wrap her mind around the idea and failed. She frowned at Methos and began looking at her readings again. "If I'm reading this right, there's a door about fifty yards, this way." she pointed to the right.

The team fell in behind her and they began to head towards this door. A moment later they drew up next to it. A beam of light played over each of them and then settled on Methos. A computer system queried his implant and then asked for a series of passwords. Methos almost panicked as he realized that there were several energy weapons now powering up around them and targeting the team. He was at a loss as the implant began to take over the conversation between it and the security system. Information was passing too fast for him to consciously keep up with it. "Guys, we might be in trouble..."

SG-1 arranged themselves in a defensive formation and waited for the end.

Luckily for them the implant had what they needed to get by. The security system shutdown and lights began to come online. They turned back to look at the cavern as the lights came back to life and everyone gasped.

Along the west wall, were three Al'Kesh and scattered all across the floor to the south were hundreds of mummified Jaffa. On the north side of the cavern they could see, neatly stacked three levels high, were more Jumpers, each in its own private niche. There were dozens.

To the south, passed all the bodies were three ships that were about the same size as the Al'Kesh, but of a different design. More bodies were scattered around them, but these were not Jaffa, these were human, and they were armed with staff weapons.

"My God, this must be what happened to the last Alterans that fled Earth when Ra first appeared. We knew they were going away, we just didn't know where... Now we do... Ra must have spotted them and sent these Jaffa in pursuit." Methos said in shock.

"Well, we can tend to the dead later, let's see if we can get this place operational again." O'Neill said, trying to be practical.

Methos turned away from the carnage filled scene and nodded to O'Neill. "Let's head for the control room." He walked up to the door and this time it opened. A long hall that seemed to go on forever was revealed. To the left and right two other halls branched away. Methos took the right hall and led the team down it for almost half a mile before they came to another break in the hall. This time the hall split off to the left or they could continue going straight.

"Um, do you know where you're going?" asked Daniel as Methos turned left.

"Yes, I'm being directed by information being fed to my implant. We're almost there." Methos replied, and he was not mistaken as they came to another door. This door opened as they approached to reveal a chamber full of consoles. As they walked in, they saw that the room was several storeys high. The walls were filled with alcoves and balconies. A pair of bridges, each at different a level and going different directions, were visible.

"Woah! This place is a maze. You'll need to make maps... lots and lots of maps." O'Neill commented.

Duncan had to agree, "Aye, it looks like you could get lost, just in this room alone."

Sam took a reading of the atmosphere, "Guys, we can remove the helmets the air's breathable here." The team quickly doffed the helmets and clipped them to their packs.

Methos gave a mental command and suddenly a strip of light became visible at his feet. "You just follow the lights. I think you can request a destination verbally too, but that system isn't running at the moment."

Sam looked down at the floor curiously. "What's generating the light, and if more than one person asks for something and the paths cross, won't that confuse the person trying to get somewhere?"

"It's not that crude, each person will have a color assigned to him or her. As to what's making the strips of light... I don't have a clue. You should check the computer core for that kind of stuff once we get everything online." Methos replied. "Now, then let's follow the yellow brick road shall we?"

The rest of the team jeered except for Teal'c who didn't get the reference.

The team followed the strip of light to a set of stairs that curved downward, deeper into the complex. As they walked the strip of light faded away behind them. They came to a set of double doors which opened to reveal a small chamber. On the wall next to the doors was a symbol of a man with his legs fading out. On the far wall a panel opened to show them maps of the complex, including different levels.

Sam walked up and began to study the map carefully. The symbol of the man with fading legs was visible on the map at different points all over the maps. "Adam, I think this is some kind of transporter room."

Methos nodded, his memories of Atlantis coming to the fore, "It is, though this room is bigger than the ones I remember." He stepped up to the panel as the rest of the team filed in, "I guess we need to use this to reach our destination." The doors closed as he studied the panel and saw one of the fading men was blinking softly in the color of his strip of light. He touched it and there was a flash.

The team looked around, Methos saw a strip of light on the floor leading from him to the doors. "I guess we were transported. That was fast."

"Let's just get going, I want to take a break once we get there." O'Neill said, feeling a twinge in his right knee.

SG-1 filed out of the room and found that they had indeed been transported to another part of the complex. The doors opened out into a large cavern that was so large, the ceiling, floors and walls faded away in the distance.

In front of them was a hexagonal pedestal with four glowing objects sticking up from it. As they walked up to it they saw that a fifth object was seated into the pedestal's far corner.

Methos smiled when he saw the objects. "This is wonderful Sam. Each of these objects is an energy source. They tap into a pocket dimension of hyperspace that has limitless energy, to charge them. They're called Potentia, they're a zero point energy module."

Carter looked at one of the objects. "How much energy does one hold?"

"Enough to power New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Moscow, Rome and Tokyo for a century, including any growth during that time period." Methos replied.

Sam gasped at his answer and fell silent, staring at the Potentia in awe.

He stepped up to the pedestal and began asking for instructions via his implant. A few seconds later he began to push down on the top left one. It slid down into the pedestal and they heard a hum. He pushed on the far upper right one and it too slid into place, the hum grew louder.

"Um, is that a good sound?" Asked Daniel nervously.

"I'm just following instructions from the main computer system, but trust me Daniel, they knew how to build things." Methos replied as he pushed the next one down. The hum grew in intensity. Methos looked at the rest of the team. "Let's all do the last one together."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow, then walked around the pedestal and took up a position that would allow him to reach the last Potentia. The rest of the team did this as well, forming a circle around the pedestal.

Methos calmly said, "Now!"

As the last device slid into place the hum became louder still, filling the cavern with noise. The Pedestal lit up as well and began to slide downward, falling into a niche. Methos queried the system, but nothing happened. "Um, okay. This might not have been such a bright idea after all."

Suddenly the humming stopped and a voice was heard. "Reinitiating systems, Diagnostic systems check enabled, Power core enabled, Security system enabled, Computer Network enabled, Sensors enabled..." the listing continued for a few minutes while SG-1 looked around. Finally the voice stopped with, "Holographic system enabled."

A man suddenly appeared in front of them in long flowing robes. He looked at the team for a moment and then turned to face Methos, "Greetings Methos, I was informed of your existence ten thousand years ago, but I am surprised to find you walking around here with a Command Level Implant. Only Captains of starships have such devices. Where did you get yours?"

Methos looked at the man in front of him and sputtered, "Who are you?"

"Ah yes, forgive me. My manners subroutine hasn't been online in ten thousand years, who needs it if you're alone. Well, if you don't count the dead people of course. I am Abraham, Caretaker for this base, Atlanteaus."

"Atlanteaus? What was it with those Alterans? They must love the word Alant-whatever." O'Neill said.

"They did indeed, there are three locations on file starting with the same set of syllables. They are; Atlanteaus, Atlantis and Atlantus." the man said, looking at O'Neill now.

"So, Abraham... what exactly are you?" O'Neill asked, looking distracted by his answer.

"I am the Artificial Intelligence Program for this facility, though I'm a bit more than that now, I've been running for the last ten thousand years, you have no idea how glad I am to have someone to talk to. They neglected to shut me off, but then I suppose no one survived the decompression of the main hanger bay. It was a shame to kill all those people, but an order's an order. I had no choice you see. The Commander made me promise to do it, then he led his people into the hanger bay to defend against those nasty invaders! Say, you look like one of those nasty people, what are you doing here with Methos?" Abraham said, fast enough to make a guy's head spin, looking at Teal'c in a menacing fashion.

Teal'c bowed to Abraham and said, "I no longer serve the false gods, the Goa'uld. I now fight with these, my friends."

Abraham took this in for a moment and then continued his tirade, "Well then, any friend of Methos and all that nonsense about camaraderie. I'll just have to scan you into the security system or it might decide to shoot you. It has a mind of its own you know. Pretty stupid and I was able to shut it down, but it can be quite useful in a pinch. Say, I see that this woman and this man have implants too, but I've never seen the model the man has. Is it your own design?" Abraham asked Methos.

Methos paused before _answering, Great, we have a mad AI to deal with now. I hope he's manageable. _"Abraham, could you please try and pace yourself. You're talking too fast and that's an annoying trait to possess. To answer your question, I only made the request, Phandora is the one who created the implant that Daniel has."

"I'm sorry Methos, it's just that I'm excited to have you here. Phandora you say. So she finally showed up? I was worried about her, missing out there in all that space between galaxies! Sorry, now then, please introduce yourselves to me one at a time and allow me to scan you into the system. I promise, this won't hurt a bit." Abraham said, varying his voice's speed as he talked, testing for a happy medium.

The team did as he asked and then he spoke again to Methos. "So, what brings you here? The last I heard, that evil thing, Ra, was in charge of the homeworld."

"Well Abraham, Ra is dead, Daniel and Jack here killed him, but we've also stirred up several cans of worms of late. First, we've shamed Ra's rival, Apophis, and second there is a faction of humans trying to steal the technology the Ancients left in my charge and kill off the Immortals. We need a base for the Immortals to stay until in we get all of this sorted out and I remembered this base was supposed to be here. So I, and my friends here, came to check you out."

"Splendid, splendid, I've been hoping to have guests for millennia and here my wish is finally granted. I'll be happy to accommodate as many people as you'd like." Abraham replied with a smile.

O'Neill gestured for Methos to follow him, then once they had walked a little bit apart from the others he asked, "Do you think we can trust this, this guy, this computer?"

"I think so, we just have to be firm and hope he's not homicidal..." Methos replied with a straight face. "Right Abraham?"

Abraham appeared next to them, scaring O'Neill half to death. "Of course Methos, you can trust me. I'm still bound by my core programming not to harm any sentient without the necessary overrides being given."

"Don't do that again." O'Neill said, looking at Abraham sternly and holding his chest.

Methos pulled out his scanner and checked O'Neill's vitals. "Here, come have a seat against the wall. He helped the Colonel to sit then pulled out a water bottle from his pack and gave it to Jack.

Jack leaned back and took slow sips of the water. "What the hell happened? I'm feeling all giddy."

"It must be a combination of the air pressure and the fright you just received, maybe a few other factors too. Let's all take a breather, while I check everyone's vitals." Methos said. He began to check everyone and saw that everyone was experiencing some problems breathing. "Abraham, what's the air mixture you're using in this area? It's not at the right settings for us the breathe it."

Abraham ran a check and discovered the problem, "Carbon dioxide levels are too high, I am unable to readjust. I think some systems must still be down. I'll begin diagnostics, but I don't have a way to make the repairs. It needs to be done by a person."

"Okay, get your helmets back on. Abraham, meet us in the control room." Methos said. He then donned his helmet and the team reentered the transporter room. Methos touched a symbol and with a flash the doors reopened to show them the hall they'd followed earlier. They could make out their tracks in a faint film of dust.

They retraced there steps back to the large control room and then followed a light strip up a flight of stairs to an alcove of consoles. Abraham was waiting there for them. "You can remove your helmets here. The air is properly maintained in this area."

SG-1 pulled off their helmets after checking the air and breathed in the fresh air that Abraham had sent into the room.

"Abraham, how sound is this facility for occupation? Will it need a lot of repairs?" Methos asked.

"I believe the only area needing repair is the core room which you just left. The ceiling's gravity plating has failed in two locations, and is about to fail in five more. A team of ten engineers could make the necessary repairs in seven earth days." Abraham replied, as he hovered near a control console.

Methos nodded to himself. "Okay, that's doable. We have eighty Immortals with the proper training and Implants. Will that be an adequate staff or will you need more to get this place up and running?"

"This facility is almost fully automated. I have automated cleaning units, they've been offline since the attack. I now have the power I need to activate them. I will have them clean the facility and prepare the housing blocks for habitation." Abraham said. His form dimmed for a second and then the team could hear sounds of whirs and beeps below them.

O'Neill peeked over the rail to the alcove and saw small robots rushing to and fro, cleaning the film of dust from the floor. More sounds above and around them told him that more robots were busily cleaning other areas around the large cavernous room. "They look like those DRDs from that Farscape program..." he commented.

Methos looked and smiled, "They are similar aren't they. Makes me wonder if one of the writers for that show or the prop designers hasn't seen one of these somewhere..."

O'Neill grimaced, "Wouldn't that pose a problem for national security?"

"Not really. The units are molecularly sealed, so there's no way to look at their inner workings without cutting into their skins. Something that such a unit wouldn't stand still for and the skin is hard enough to withstand anything in our planet's current technology level." Methos stated.

Abraham spoke up, "Methos, how much do you know about the purpose of this facility?"

"Almost nothing really. Phandora's records simply noted the existence of this place. No details were available about it." Methos replied looking at Abraham for an explanation.

Abraham smiled, "Then let me enlighten you and your friends. This facility is a shipyard and research development center. The computer systems here contain the sum knowledge of all the researchers of the Alteran people as of ten thousand years ago. There are five slips available for ship construction of vessels as large as two thousand five hundred of your meters in length and as wide as half that sum. The facility is also equipped with three hangers for fleet storage and maintenance."

Abraham paused for a moment before continuing, "Finally this facility is the site from which the cityship Atlantis was constructed. A hull exists in the bay used to construct it. The hull is only twenty percent complete as systems and raw materials needed to complete it are unavailable at this time..."

Carter and O'Neill shared looks of glee with Methos as the Old Man stared at the hologram and his friends in silence. After gathering his thoughts, Methos spoke in a broken voice, "Abraham, how many of the slips are filled with hulls at the moment... and what do you need to complete the cityship hull?"

"All of the slips are empty Methos. I used the hulls they contained to build the cityship's hull to its current level. I was ordered to do so by Commander Travias before he lead his people into the main hanger to fight off the Goa'uld incursion." Abraham replied calmly.

O'Neill swore to himself for a moment then said, "So if you were to say, oh I don't know, strip this cityship down and build one or two of your biggest battleships, how many could you actually build and how long would it take?"

"At the current moment, none. The cityship's hull has been polarized in such a manner that it cannot be disassembled without sacrificing a significant portion of the resulting raw materials. The process would make the materials unsuitable for use in ship construction."

"How so?" asked Carter curiously.

"The molecular structure of the metals would be greatly weakened by scrapping the present hull. The nature of the polarization process makes the metals stronger, more durable, but to reverse the process would weaken them significantly." Abraham stated.

"So why not leave the metals like they are and build ship hulls from them?" asked Daniel.

"The metals are currently too strong for our best cutting methods to even put a dent in them. The metal density is too great." Abraham explained.

"Wait a second, you're saying you made the metal's density greater with this process? How did you do it? The only thing I know of that could affect the density of an object the way you're describing it is a blackhole's gravity." Carter said looking slightly shocked.

"You are correct Captain Carter, the method used in the polarization process to strengthen the metal uses artificial blackholes, micro-singularities to be more precise without going into the technical aspects of the process." Abraham said, beaming a smile at Sam.

"Why would you do that in the first place?" asked Carter in a half awed voice.

"Previous hulls using the conventional metallurgy of the past were deemed to be too fragile after we lost two of them to a race called the Wraith in the Pegasus galaxy. One other cityship was disabled and forced to crash land and still may exist, but is unlikely it will ever fly again. The only other viable hull was Atlantis, but it too is lost to us at this current time. It was decided that the next hull would be made as strong as possible, this is what I have done with the cityship in the bay." said Abraham calmly.

"So, we can't build any other ships?" asked O'Neill in a slightly peeved tone.

"On the contrary Colonel O'Neill, you may build as many ships as you like, however I will require the raw materials needed to construct them. My current storage bays are now empty." the hologram corrected.

"So what are we talking about here, what raw materials do you need?" asked Jackson eagerly.

"I will make a list for you Dr. Jackson and for you of course Methos. Further, I will need a staff of twenty personnel to make any necessary manual adjustments to the slipways, depending on the desired hulls. The automated systems can only do so much before a human element is needed for final adjustments." Abraham said turning from Jackson to Methos as he spoke to each of them in turn.

Methos smiled, "I'm sure we can arrange something. I assume that the slips are adjustable so we can build multiple small hulls in each bay as well?"

"That is correct. The slips are designed to make ships up to the largest hull, minus the cityship design, that hull has its own separate bay. For example, there are currently ten scout class ships in the hangers awaiting use. A single bay may house slips for up to twenty such vessels at a time. The Stargate scouts can be built up to a hundred at a time in each bay." Abraham stated referring to the Al'Kesh sized ships and the Jumper respectively.

Teal'c raised and eyebrow and said, "Such a capacity would make this facility a formidable shipyard. Something that the System Lords would pay dearly to possess. It is well that you were able to stop the Jaffa of Ra from capturing it in his name so long ago. With a facility such as this, Ra would have been able to dominate the galaxy in short order and Earth would now still be in his full control. The Tau'ri would have never been able to reach their current level of technology."

O'Neill and the rest of the team stared at Teal'c. His statements being the most they had ever heard him speak at once since he'd joined their cause.

Abraham shook his head, oblivious to the looks of mild shock on their faces, and said, "That would have never happened. A failsafe device is in place to prevent such an occurrence. If venting the atmosphere had failed, I was ordered to activate it. Fortunately, it was not needed."

"A failsafe?" Methos asked.

"Yes, a device has been placed near the core of this planet that, if set off, it would destroy the base and the planet in short order. Such an occurrence, it should be noted, would have caused a shift in the gravity field of the entire solar system, shifting the planets' alignments and positions. Earth would have most likely been pulled further away from the sun by such a shift, possibly causing it to break up as well. A chain reaction would have ensued that would have destroyed the remaining inner planets as well. Jupiter and the other gas giants would have been drawn closer to the sun as well, or spun off to become rogue planets in the galaxy. That is a worse case scenario of course. The reality would fall somewhere in between." Abraham commented as if he were detailing a weather forecast.

SG-1 looked around in shock at the level of destruction the Ancients were willing to go to protect their technology. O'Neill spoke up, "How secure is that device? Could it go off by accident?"

"No Colonel, it cannot. It consists of two separate parts and they are never close to each other in a given time period. It is only when the destruct code is sent to both parts that the danger of eminent destruction occurs. They are inert until then." Abraham supplied.

"These parts, what are they?" asked Carter.

"Two antimatter capsules, each as large as a scout ship." Said Abraham.

"Oh my god! Colonel that much antimatter would be more than enough to wipe out this planet and anything in near orbit!" Carter exclaimed.

"That was the idea Captain Carter. The researchers wanted to be sure to stop any vessels in near Mars orbit from escaping with any of their technologies." Abraham informed her.

"How long would it take for the self-destruct go off if the base became compromised?" O'Neill asked.

"No more than five of your seconds Colonel. The devices are designed to jump into the core itself and detonate together."

"Good lord, let's hope we never have to use it." MacLeod said from his position at the back of the group.

"Indeed." stated Teal'c, going back to his typical response.

"Alright, I think we've heard enough, Daniel and Pierson have the list of what we'll need to build ships here and we need to get back to Earth so we can begin ferrying people to here. Let's head back to the transport." O'Neill stated.

"Colonel, I suggest you take one of the scout vessels on your return trip. It is capable of carrying up to a thousand people at a time and it has a ring platform as well." said Abraham.

"Using the ring platform is problematic Abraham. The distances involved... and the fact that it makes quite a light show for anyone for miles around..." said Methos.

"Ah, you are referring to the targeting beam, that system has been eliminated by the researchers here. The ring platforms on the base and in the scouts are equipped with enhanced subspace sensors that are quite accurate. There will not be a light show and the range is greatly increased. They can be used to transport anyone the length of this solar system accurately and quite safely." supplied Abraham, trying to be helpful.

Methos grinned. This was great news. "Please download the schematics and any related data to my implant and anything else that might be helpful toward getting our people here faster and getting you supplied as well. I'll have Dora begin building a set of rings at the caverns as soon as we get back."

"Done and done Methos. I must say I look forward to this once more. It has been much too long since anyone has been here to talk to!" Abraham said, ringing his hands in a gesture of anticipation.

Methos smirked and said, "Easy big fella, we won't be gone long, I promise."

The rest of SG-1 smiled or let out small laughs as they began the long walk back to the hanger.

O'Neill looked around as they reached the Hanger, "You'd think that there'd be a faster way back to the hanger than walking. That's quite a walk for some of the scientists that Hammond will want to send up here, with your consent of course." Adding the last as Methos gave him a dark look.

"It will be a little while before I allow anyone except us and my own people up here and those that the Immortals can trust. There's too much danger of a spy getting in otherwise. Let us secure the place thoroughly first, then we can talk about sending up SGC personnel." Methos said in a tone that brooked no argument.

"Fine Pierson, but Hammond and the President aren't going to like this much." O'Neill conceded.

"Unfortunately I don't have time to smooth any ruffled feathers. Right now my people come first, then their loved ones. After that we can talk, not until then." Methos said firmly.

"Okay, I guess I'll have to sell that to General Hammond. I just hope he's in a good mood when we talk." O'Neill sighed.

* * *

**SGC, at that very moment...**

"You mean to tell me that Senator Kinsey wants to do what, sir?" General Hammond yelled into the phone's receiver.

On the other end, "General Hammond, Senator Kinsey has reviewed the Stargate Program's files and has decided to shut down the Stargate. He's been kind enough to allow you to finish out this year's budget, but after that the Stargate will be shut down and buried per his orders. You have until then to convince him otherwise George, but I wouldn't hold your breath. The congress has too many seats up in the air, if my party doesn't in the majority of them, Al won't get the nomination in 2000. It will fall to someone else."

"Mr. President, how can you let this happen? If we shut down the Stargate Program we'll be opening ourselves up to probable invasion with no way to stop it. We need the Stargate sir." Hammond pleaded.

"I'm sorry George, my hands are tied with this one. If you have to, I'll authorize you and the rest of your SGC personnel to follow the commands of Adam Pierson. I'm sure he won't take this sitting down, and with this new threat of war against Immortals he'll be a handful. I can pledge support to him up to a point against these attacks, but only on American soil. The Governor of Washington is breathing down my neck as it is to find those responsible for the Seacouver incident and I've mobilized the National Guard in his state to aid him, as well as the FBI, NSA and FEMA. I want these bastards as much as Adam does." Clinton seethed.

"Captain Pierson is currently off-world with SG-1, I expect to hear from them soon. I'll consult with him about the Seacouver incident and I promise to keep you informed as events unfold on my end. How in the hell did Kinsey get wind of the Program in the first place, sir?" Hammond asked.

"The Constitution George, that's how. He heads the committee overseeing secret projects. He wanted to know where the money for "Area 52" was going and what it was for." Clinton sourly replied. "It was only because of my personal reassurances that he agreed to allow the Program to continue to the end of this fiscal year. He also was drooling over some of the ship and weapons designs I showed him that Adam sent to me. He's willing to continue with their production providing that we can do it without the Stargate Program. I told him it was possible, but it would be difficult at best to do it.

"The worst thing about this is he dismissed our assessment about Apophis' impending invasion as propaganda to keep the Stargate Program up and running. He said that anyone that was dumb enough to fall for the tricks that Pierson pulled off couldn't possibly be any kind of a real threat to the US or Earth. I wanted to throttle him after that comment..." Clinton continued.

Hammond was in full agreement on that score. "Mr. President, you'll have the SGC's full support in anything in regard to Senator Kinsey."

"In the end I just might need it George... Look, I've got to run, I have a press conference to go to. The press are at my throat too in regard to the Seacouver incident. I'm in really hot water here George, get Adam to lend me a hand if he can as soon as he returns or makes contact." The President hung up before Hammond could acknowledge the order.

Hammond hung up and then picked up a base phone, "This is Hammond, as soon as SG-1 returns have them report immediately to the briefing room." That done, he hung up and the sat back in his chair and sighed. Something told him that this wasn't over, not by a long shot.

In fact he was right.

It was just the beginning...

* * *

Please Read and Review! Martin70


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